Back to School: Rents in University Towns higher than average, show larger than average increases

Back to School: Rents in University Towns higher than average, show larger than average increases

Aug 24, 2015

DENVER – August 24, 2015 – Students for most major universities and colleges are either already back on campus or will be back soon. While many students live in dorms, those who venture out to share private houses get more space and privacy but usually at a higher cost. In cities that are home to large schools that are part of major athletic conferences, rents for 3-bedroom houses average $1416, up 6.6% from a year ago. The national average 3-bedroom house rented for $1329, up 6.1% from a year ago.

The PAC 12 was the only conference that posted rental increases in every city of the past year. It also had the highest average rent increase of 11.3% and the highest average rent of $2238. It wins RentRange’s “least affordable” conference title.

At the other end of the scale, the Southeastern Conference wins the “most affordable” conference title with average rents of just $1129 and a year-over-year increase of just 5.9%.

PAC 12 Conference

Stanford in the PAC 12 is the major university with the most expensive rental housing with an average rent of $4508 for 3-bedroom houses in Palo Alto (see table below). The PAC 12 also includes the University of Washington in Seattle, where rents jumped 34.5% in the last year.

PAC 12 School

Location

3BR Rent

%ch yr. ago

U. OF WASHINGTON

SEATTLE

2,332

34.5%

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

PALO ALTO

4,508

14.0%

U. OF COLORADO

BOULDER

2,309

13.5%

OREGON STATE

CORVALLIS

1,488

10.5%

UC-BERKELEY

BERKELEY

3,544

9.1%

UCLA

LOS ANGELES

2,705

9.0%

ARIZONA STATE

TEMPE

1,384

8.4%

U. OF OREGON

EUGENE

1,288

6.3%

U. OF UTAH

SALT LAKE CITY

1,313

5.4%

U. OF ARIZONA

TUCSON

1,123

0.9%

PAC 12 CONFERENCE AVERAGE

$2,238

11.3%

Source: RentRange.com

Southeastern Conference

In the SEC, Vanderbilt University had the highest average rent ($1502) as well as the largest increase over the past year (22.3%). The University of Alabama had the lowest average rent ($1003) as well as the great decline in rent (-5.0%).

SEC School

Location

3BR Rent

%ch yr. ago

VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

NASHVILLE

1,502

22.3%

U. OF MISSISSIPPI

OXFORD

1,213

14.4%

U. OF KENTUCKY

LEXINGTON

1,101

11.7%

U. OF GEORGIA

ATHENS

1,011

8.9%

U. OF TENNESSEE

KNOXVILLE

1,035

6.3%

TEXAS A & M

COLLEGE STATION

1,377

6.3%

U. OF ARKANSAS

FAYETTEVILLE

1,163

5.8%

U. OF SOUTH CAROLINA

COLUMBIA

1,060

5.4%

LOUISIANA STATE

BATON ROUGE

1,220

4.1%

U. OF MISSOURI

COLUMBIA

1,104

1.8%

U. OF FLORIDA

GAINESVILLE

1,205

1.3%

U. OF ALABAMA

TUSCALOOSA

1,003

-5.9%

SEC CONFERENCE AVERAGE

$1,129

5.9%

Source: RentRange.com

Atlantic Coast Conference

The ACC stretches from Florida State to the south to Boston College and Syracuse University to the north. Rents for 3-bedroom houses listed for rent in July average $1264, up 4.7% from a year ago – both figures below the national and major-school city averages. But rents in Chestnut Hill – home to Boston College — averaged $2,828 while rents in Pittsburgh climbed 9.8% over the past year.

ACC School

Location

3BR Rent

%ch yr. ago

U. OF PITTSBURGH

PITTSBURGH

$1,147

9.8%

WEST VIRGINIA UNIV.

MORGANTOWN

1,142

7.6%

U. OF NORTH CAROLINA

CHAPEL HILL

1,509

7.0%

U.OF NOTRE DAME

SOUTH BEND

794

6.4%

BOSTON COLLEGE

CHESTNUT HILL

2,828

6.3%

WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY

WINSTON SALEM

990

6.1%

DUKE UNIVERSITY

DURHAM

1,246

5.3%

U. OF VIRGINIA

CHARLOTTESVILLE

1,446

5.3%

FLORIDA STATE

TALLAHASSEE

1,092

4.1%

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

SYRACUSE

1,085

3.0%

U. OF LOUISVILLE

LOUISVILLE

988

2.2%

GEORGIA TECH

ATLANTA

1,055

-3.4%

ACC CONFERENCE AVERAGE

$1,264

4.7%

Source: RentRange.com

Big 10 conference

Rents for 3-bedroom houses in Big 10 cities averaged $1346, slightly above the US average but grew only by 4.6%. Michigan State Spartans seeking house rentals got bargains, paying only $851 – down 2.4% from the previous year. Rutgers\’ Red Knights paid $2,088, about the same as last year.

Big 10 School

Location

3BR Rent

%ch yr. ago

U. OF ILLINOIS

CHAMPAIGN

$1,024

10.3%

U. OF MARYLAND

COLLEGE PARK

1,962

10.1%

U. OF WISCONSIN

MADISON

1,458

9.1%

U. OF NEBRASKA

LINCOLN

1,058

7.5%

U. OF INDIANA

BLOOMINGTON

1,199

7.0%

U. OF MICHIGAN

ANN ARBOR

1,661

6.6%

U. OF MINNESOTA

MINNEAPOLIS

1,474

5.7%

OHIO STATE UNIV.

COLUMBUS

1,011

3.6%

U. OF IOWA

IOWA CITY

1,355

2.6%

PURDUE UNIVERSITY

LAFAYETTE

889

2.5%

U. OF ILLINOIS

URBANA

947

1.1%

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

EAST BRUNSWICK

2,088

0.2%

PENNSYLVANIA STATE

STATE COLLEGE

1,257

-0.5%

MICHIGAN STATE

LANSING

851

-2.4%

BIG 10 CONFERENCE AVERAGE

$1,346

4.6%

Source: RentRange.com

Big 12 Conference

The University of Texas in Austin leads the way with an average 3-bedroom rent of $1751, up nearly 10% from last year. Ames – home to Iowa State – posted an increase of 11.5% but that brought the level to just $1184.

Oklahoma State in Stillwater had the lowest rents at just $974 although that was 5.9% higher than a year ago. Rents in Manhattan, Kansas (Kansas State) fell 1.5% to $1180.